Governance

Constitution

The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia was adopted on 5 July 1995 through a referendum.

Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia were made on 27 November 2005 and on 6 December 2015 through referenda.

Constitutional description

The Republic of Armenia is a sovereign, democratic, social state governed by the rule of law.

In the Republic of Armenia, the power belongs to the people.

The people shall exercise their power through free elections, referenda, as well as through state and local self-government bodies and officials provided for by the Constitution.

State power shall be exercised in conformity with the Constitution and the laws, based on the separation and balance of the legislative, executive and judicial powers.

National Assembly

The National Assembly shall be the representative body of the people, which shall implement the legislative power. The National Assembly shall exercise supervision over the executive power, shall adopt the State Budget and perform other functions prescribed by the Constitution.

The powers of the National Assembly shall be prescribed by the Constitution.

The National Assembly shall be composed of at least one hundred and one Deputies. The National Assembly shall be elected through proportional electoral system. The last parliamentary elections took place on 9 December 2018.

President of the Republic

The President of the Republic shall be the head of the State. The President shall observe the compliance with the Constitution. In the course of exercising his or her powers, the President of the Republic shall be impartial and shall be guided exclusively by state-wide and nation-wide interests. The President of the Republic shall perform his or her functions through the powers prescribed by the Constitution.

The President of the Republic shall be elected by the National Assembly for a term of seven years.

Government

The Government shall be the supreme body of the executive power.

The Government shall, based on its programme, develop and implement the domestic and foreign policies of the State, exercise general management of the bodies of the state administration system.

The powers of the Government shall be prescribed by the Constitution and laws. All the matters pertaining to the executive power and not reserved to state administration bodies or other local self-government bodies shall fall under the competence of the Government.

The Government shall be composed of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and ministers.

The candidate elected by the parliamentary majority shall be appointed by the President of the Republic as a Prime Minister. Deputy Prime Ministers and ministers shall be appointed by the President of the Republic, upon recommendation of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister shall, within the framework of the Programme of the Government, determine the main directions of policy of the Government, manage the activities of the Government and co-ordinate the work of the members of the Government.

Courts and the Supreme Judicial Council

In the Republic of Armenia, justice shall be administered only by courts in compliance with the Constitution and laws. The Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation, courts of appeal, courts of first instance of general jurisdiction, as well as the Administrative Court shall operate in the Republic of Armenia. Other specialised courts may be established in the cases provided for by law.

Constitutional justice shall be administered by the Constitutional Court, ensuring the supremacy of the Constitution. In the Republic of Armenia the supreme court instance shall be the Court of Cassation, except for the field of constitutional justice.

The Court of Cassation, by way of revision of judicial acts within the scope of powers prescribed by law, shall ensure the uniform application of laws and other regulatory legal acts, as well as eliminate the fundamental violations of human rights and freedoms.

Independence of courts and judges shall be guaranteed by the Supreme Judicial Council, which is an independent state body comprised of ten members. Five members of the Supreme Judicial Council shall be elected by the General Assembly of Judges, another five members — by the National Assembly.

Administrative-Territorial Units of the Republic of Armenia

The administrative-territorial units of the Republic of Armenia shall be the marzes [regions] and the communities. The marzes shall be comprised of rural and urban communities. The territory of the Republic of Armenia shall be divided into 10 marzes. They are: Aragatsotn Marz, Ararat Marz, Armavir Marz, Gegharkunik Marz, Lori Marz, Kotayk Marz, Shirak Marz, Syunik Marz, Vayots Dzor Marz and Tavush Marz.

Capital Yerevan shall be a community. Local self-governance shall be exercised in communities.